Art exhibition: Making room for the amateurs

Artist knows herself better than most.

ISLAMABAD:

A young self-taught artist proved on Monday that art does not always need professional training. Sana Rashid Khan’s ‘Know Thyself’ exhibition at the Tehzeeb Gallery appealed to the experts and the novices alike.

Pursuing her ACCA, Khan’s work encompasses charcoals and acrylic painting and the 17 pieces displayed at the exhibit break the mould of highbrow art common to most galleries now. Her lack of finesse and technique is perhaps what helps make Khan’s work more approachable.

When asked on her source of inspiration, Khan confessed her mother’s death proved the cathartic burst she needed to express herself through art. The melancholia seeps its way into her work. “The row of trees with a tree standing alone and dark is like me, separate from the rest,” she said describing a particular piece. Another piece features a wall impeding a boat’s progress perhaps depicting the blockage she feels in her life; a house with no lights gives new licence to the grief that has left her empty from within.

The technique lacking in her charcoal work is evident in her acrylic paintings but she manages to create a unique blend of beauty and sorrow.

Not everything meets a tragic fate. The exhibition is partly an exercise to draw the artist out of her shell and the story is a happy one. “My closest friend and confidant was the one who encouraged me to present my work. I owe it all to him,” she narrated shyly.

To the critical there may be many, many flaws in her work but when viewed from the perspective of a young woman on the road to self-discovery, the artistic expression conveyed takes on a whole new meaning. The exhibition is not only easy on the eye but easy on the pocket as well. The show will continue until January 29.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2012.